


His Broken Heart

by ScarrletRaven



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Cannibalism, Creature Fic, Ghouls, Hannigram - Freeform, M/M, Shapeshifting, Stalking, dubious relationship, ghoul!verse, ghouls are known, jack crawford means well, otherwise pretty canon compliant, some canon divergence, somnambulance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-25 05:49:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21811111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarrletRaven/pseuds/ScarrletRaven
Summary: Human society found out about ghouls in the 18th century. Over the past hundreds of years, ghouls have integrated into society and most have given up their murderous and grave-robbing tendencies, choosing instead to consume the flesh of those who donate their bodies to the ghouls upon their deaths. Due to their shapeshifting abilities, many ghouls have managed to go undetected among the humans. The Federal Bureau of Intelligence created a special branch to deal with the ghoul-on-ghoul and ghoul-on-human crimes. It is to this branch that Jack Crawford belongs. He requests Will Graham's assistance when eight women, all of the same height, age, and build go missing. Will's ability to empathize with ghouls and to understand them makes him an invaluable asset, but Jack requests the assistance of respected psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter to keep Will from getting too close. Unknown to all, Hannibal himself is a ghoul. Hannibal is intrigued by Will's ability and the unique opportunity it offers him to be truly known and understood. But when when Hannibal reveals himself to Will and Will rejects him, Hannibal is torn between either dragging the empath into his own world or eating him.
Relationships: Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Comments: 1
Kudos: 65
Collections: MHBB2019





	His Broken Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all! This story isn't quite as well developed as I would like. I'm just finishing up my first semester of a PhD program so life has been crazy! I wanted to get it out there for the Murder Husband Big Bang challenge, though, and I will try to edit/add more over the winter holiday if I have time, so feel free to leave comments! Also, if you'd like to play in the ghoul world I've created, feel free to do so! I love ghoul Hannibal! Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Thank you so much to Bees for creating such beautiful artwork to go with the fic at so late a notice! I deeply appreciate it <3

Artwork by @[bees0are0awesome](https://bees0are0awesome.tumblr.com/post/189666889955/last-minute-pinch-hit-for-scarrlet-raven-s-mhbb) on Tumblr! Thank you! 

-

The ghouls joined society in the mid 1700s, at the dawn of the industrial revolution. In the early 1800s came the invention of the camera. With their existence captured on film as technology advanced and with the increasing ease of human life caused by technological and medicinal advances, ghouls left their graveyards and entered into the light.

Ghoul-centric food chains opened to fill the void in the market and cater specifically to the not-quite-human members of society. Ghouls rose with global capitalization. Not everyone was pleased about their new neighbors, but enough were ecstatic about the humanoid creatures that there became an option to donate one’s body to ghouls upon death. In the year 1973, this option was more popular than being buried or cremated.

While most ghouls acclimated quickly to human society, ceased killing, and mostly ceased their grave-robbing tendencies, there still existed some ghouls who believed humans were their rightful prey. These ghouls believed that joining human society would mean being domesticated by the very cattle on which they fed. When a ghoul was revealed to be behind a series of murders, humans advocated for stricter laws and for ghoul registries. The United States legislation refused to prosecute all ghouls for the acts of one ghoul. In 1981, the Federal Bureau of Investigations opened a new branch that specialized in ghoul crimes to acknowledge the public’s outcry and demand for protection. This branch’s unique taskforce was trained and equipped to deal with the different threat posed by ghouls. Some ghouls themselves even joined the branch, desiring a chance to prove their loyalties.

By the 21st century, ghouls blended in with human society so seamlessly that one often did not know the flesh-eating practices of his neighbor.

-

When Jack knocked on Will’s door, Will already knew what he was going to say. He opened the offending slab of wood and said, without looking at Jack, “Not interested.”

“You haven’t even heard me out yet, Will.”

“Yeah, well, that doesn’t change my response.” When Will tried to close the door, Jack Crawford stuck his foot into the threshold of Will’s Wolf Trap home.

“We need you Will.”

“I don’t work for you anymore, Jack. I work at the academy, teaching pupils so that _they_ can run around chasing ghouls for you.”

“We need _you_ , not your pupils. _You_. You’re the best there is. You can read these ghoul bastards like no one else.”

Will scowled at Jack’s anti-ghoul language. “What’s the case?” he asked.

“Eight girls have gone missing. No bodies. All the same height, same hair color, same eye color, practically the same age.”

“If there haven’t been any bodies, then how do you know it’s a ghoul?” Will asked.

“This guy is good. Too good. The girls go missing in public places, sometimes from their homes. There is no sign of struggle where they were last seen. I’m thinking he must be a shapeshifter, and last I checked ghouls are the only things that can shapeshift.”

“Or,” Will suggested while folding his arms, “he’s human and he’s just a very neat monster.”

“Fine, he could be human. But the case was passed to us, so he’s my problem now.” Jack stared at Will for a long moment and Will caught his gaze before looking just past him to avoid seeing into the man, seeing his need. “Look, I’m not asking you to put yourself out there. I’m just asking you to come and look, tell me what you see.”

Uh-huh. Will had heard this before. Come and look, Jack would ask, and then the next thing Will knew he’d be at crime scenes, then baiting ghouls, then being flung by a murderous inhuman creature across the room. Foot-in-the-door was not just literal with Jack. Will let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding. “Alright. I’ll look, but it better not interfere with my teaching.”

Jack positively beamed. “Of course, of course.”

Of course it would.

-

When the car pulled up to the latest missing girl’s house, Will Graham could feel his pulse increase. There were traces of… something on the air. A familiar taste that Will had caught when on cases before. And it was very, very fresh.

He kept his face stoic as he stepped out of the car and approached the house with Jack at his side. Will couldn’t hear the conversation between Jack and the Nichols. All he could hear was the sound of footsteps, patters on the floor.

"Do you have a cat?” he asked, inadvertently interrupting what appeared to be an emotional moment.

Mrs. Nichols looked taken aback but nodded. She pointed to a lithe female laying on the windowsill, peering out. “Yes. Elise was supposed to feed her.”

Bits of her conversation with Jack came to Will, the sensory information having been stored but not processed until now. “Your daughter was supposed to come here to feed the cat, but she never made it, is that correct?”

Mr. Nichols looked angry at Will’s insistence on talking about the cat. “Yes, that is correct. What does that have to do with-”

“The cat was fed. Elise came home and fed the cat.” Will knew it just as much as he knew that the murderer — for that is what they were dealing with — had been in this house not long before they had arrived. “Elise was taken from here. Jack,” Will changed his address, “this is a crime scene.” 

Jack took Will at his word without question and did his best to calm the panicking parents. Will asked to be led to Elise’s room. The parents shakily obliged.

Before Will opened the door, he had the overwhelming feeling that he had opened the door before. That his arms had been full but he had been careful, delicate. He breathed in and saw the girl laying in her bed. He knew before opening the door that’s where she would be, and that she was no longer alive. The killer had taken her from here, and had returned her here later.

Will passed through time in a blur. The parents were sent away. The forensics team was called. He thought he remembered Jack putting a hand on his shoulder and telling him to look, and that he’d be right outside the door. But there was no stopping him from seeing now. Not now that he was here, in the home where the murderer had been. Where his victim still lied.

Will jumped on Elise. She opened her eyes in a wide panic as he choked her, as he felt her dying.

-

“It was bad meat,” Will said. Everyone turned and looked at him, alarmed. He stared in their general direction and elaborated, “He’s eating them.”

“So,” Jack said, “this means we have a ghoul on our hands after all.”

Will merely shrugged. “Or a cannibal.”

“What would it take for you to tell the difference? To make a definitive call?”

Will struggled to put into words his process and gave up before trying. “I’d need to get close to him,” he said instead. “Figure out why he’s doing this. Why these women? Why is he eating them? Why did he go through the trouble of possibly being caught in order to tuck Elise Nichols back into bed when he realized he couldn’t eat her liver?” Will shook his head. “I need to see more.”

Jack nodded. “That can be arranged.”

-

Hannibal stared through the darkness of his quarry, eyes glowing a dim yellow. He scented the air and tasted sweat, cheap cologne, dog hair. The figure standing in his territory swayed, but did not advance. He seemed to be in a state of somnambulance. This emboldened Hannibal to approach the man without donning his people suit.

The man didn’t so much as flinch when the black, bone-thin figure with great horns and yellow eyes approached him from the thicket. This close, Hannibal took a deeper whiff. He smelled no disease on the man. He was indeed asleep. His dream state had delivered him right to Hannibal’s doorstep.

Hannibal reached out a clawed hand to touch the man. A growl emanated from behind the trespasser. A small dog stalked forward, its fur bristled, its teeth bared. It put itself between Hannibal and its master.

A breath that couldn’t quite be called a laugh escaped the creature’s lips and he withdrew his hand. He could have crushed the canine’s skull with little effort, but he instead receded into his quarry, moved by the small dog’s loyalty.

Once he vanished from view, the dog turned to its master and nuzzled his hand. The man jolted awake with a start. He glanced around in confusion, then down at the dog before him.

“Hey, Winston,” Hannibal heard him say. “Where are we, bud?”

Hannibal watched the man and the dog until they vanished from view, but the image of the man did not vanish from the dark creature’s mind.

-

Jack knew that he needed Will, but he also didn’t want to lose him. He saw the glazed look in Will’s eye when he said that Elise was bad meat. It shook him to his core. Made Will himself seem like the ghouls Jack hunted. There was something truly inhuman about Will’s ability that Jack often wondered if Will wasn’t a ghoul himself. But he knew Will had completed the FBI’s physical examination, even if he hadn’t passed it, and was declared human. A human teetering between the world of humans and ghouls. Jack wanted to use Will, but he didn’t want to break him. He needed assurance. A safety net. When he went to Alanna and she suggested Dr. Hannibal Lecter with great praise, he felt this was the best safety he could employ.

He couldn’t have been more wrong.

-

When Agent Jack Crawford came knocking at Dr. Lecter’s door and all but invited himself into his practice, Hannibal began plotting the agent’s imminent demise. He picked up a scalpel with the pretense of sharpening his pencils. In his mind’s eye, he could see that sharp instrument plunging into the agent’s carotid.

Then, the man said something Hannibal hadn’t expected. “I’d like to borrow your expertise.”

"Borrow?”

“Use, rather.” Agent Crawford’s demeanor shifted as he turned to flattery, before continuing on to the favor he was asking. “I have a profiler who’s been going into the field with my team. He has the ability to empathize with the ghouls we’re hunting, to get into their heads.”

“And you’d like me to see to it that he’s able to get back out of their heads, is that right?”

“Exactly.” Jack nodded. “Just as an added precaution.”

“I’d be happy to be of assistance,” Hannibal said with a smile, putting down the scalpel.

-

When the Will Graham that Hannibal had heard so much about finally stepped into Agent Crawford’s office, Hannibal had to hide his surprise upon recognizing the sleep-walker who had trespassed into his territory. It appeared his young interloper was more intriguing than he had originally thought.

During that initial meeting, Will barely gave Hannibal a second glance. Hannibal felt a mixed pang of irritation and smugness. He wanted the empath’s eyes to gaze over him, to see him beneath this skin suit, but he also delighted in his ability to fit in so well with humans that not even the ghoul-empathizing human looked twice at him. No matter, Will would see him later. All in good time.

Even during the brief encounter, Hannibal could tell what a gift Will had. “It’s pure empathy,” he told Agent Crawford. Yet, it was curious to Hannibal that Will only empathized with ghouls. His ability had a very ghoul-like quality. Hannibal himself was gifted with a strong sense of smell. Ghouls, he had come to learn over his many years upon the earth, often had distinguishing abilities. Will’s empathy appeared to Hannibal as just another ghoulish gift.

Hannibal smiled at the thought of his own gift he would leave for the empath. He was certain it would help Will see the killer they were looking for. Oh yes, this was going to be the most fun he’d had in a long, _long_ time.

-

When Will first saw Hannibal, he was more concerned about Hannibal reading _him_ , that he didn’t stop to read _Hannibal_. When the doctor appeared at his house — and who was it that gave him the address? — Will felt irritation at his persistence. The dogs wagged happily to greet the newcomer except, Will noted, Winston whose fur was raised. Will patted the dog and sat opposite the man.

While eating he remarked, “I don’t find you that interesting,” with the hope that the doctor would be deterred.

On the contrary, the man smiled. “You will,” he said with a promise.

That was the first moment that Will stopped to look at the man sitting across from him, eating the scrumptious food he had brought with him. He stared, waiting for something. Anything. The man was so _neat_. Will couldn’t read anything off of him. He couldn’t feel anything. Hannibal glanced up at Will and Will had the strangest feeling that Hannibal could feel him trying to read him. They gazed at each other placidly and Will saw a stag, the woods-

Then the phone rang and they were off to a crime scene.

The whole drive over, Will couldn’t shake the image of the deer from his mind. Was his mind making it up in order to cover the nothingness he had seen when looking at the doctor? Will didn’t usually see much with humans, just simple emotions. He couldn’t occupy their minds like he could the ghouls. Perhaps Dr. Lecter was just another human, one who liked to hunt deer in the woods and that is what Will saw.

They arrived at the crime scene and Jack knocked on his window.

“You said you needed to spend more time with this killer, see him better?” Jack said the moment Will stepped out of Dr. Lecter’s car. “Well, looks like now’s your chance.”

Will felt as if he were looking at a painting rather than a crime scene. A naked girl was mounted on a stag’s head, antlers protruding through her stomach and chest.

“Still think the killer cared about his victims?”

Will reeled out of his daze. It took him a moment to understand the remark. “Whoever killed this girl was not the same person who tucked Elise Nichols back into bed,” he declared.

“She was killed in the same way, her lungs were removed, she was mounted on antlers...”

Will shook her head. “She was killed in the opposite way of the other girls. Whoever killed this girl thought that she was a pig. Our killed _loves_ women. No, this is a copycat killer, not the ghoul we’re after. An intelligent psychopath? Extremely hard to catch. He’ll probably never kill this way again.”

Will began backing away from the crime scene, trying not to look, trying to keep his senses from being overwhelmed by the emotions that this girl’s killer had felt. As he retreated, he couldn’t suppress the feeling of the killer’s smug triumph that coursed through his veins.

Hannibal joined Will without a word and opened the passenger door to the car. “Where would you like to go?” he asked.

Will thought for a moment before deciding. “Scrapyards or construction sites. There was a piece of metal on Elise Nichols. I think her killer might have worked in a scrapyard.”

Hannibal nodded and the pair was off.

-

When opportunity presented Hannibal with the chance to warn a fellow ghoul of his coming doom, and to see how Will Graham would react in a violent situation, he simply couldn’t resist. He dialed the number left for one Garrett Jacob Hobbs.

He did not expect a young woman’s voice to answer, “Hello?” when the line picked up.

“Is Garrett Jacob Hobbs there?”

“Yeah, hold on.” He heard faintly, “Dad, it’s for you.”

“Garrett Jacob Hobbs?” Hannibal asked calmly when he heard breathing on the other side of the line.

“Yes, who is this?”

“I want you to listen closely. Are you listening?”

“Yes,” the ghoul breathed into the phone.

“They know. To save yourself, kill them all.”

-

When they arrived at the house, Hannibal expected to be met with a feral ghoul. Instead, he saw the dark, clawed figure throw his bleeding wife out the front door.

Will ran to the woman’s aid without a moment’s hesitation. He held his hand over her bleeding neck. Hannibal stalked slowly forward. _Kill them all_ , he just now realized was somewhat ambiguous. While he had meant, _kill the people who come to catch you_ , but the ghoul had interpreted his words as, _kill your family_. It wasn’t a complete waste, though, since he was able to see Will dripping in blood — even if the woman wasn’t Will’s kill. That would come later. The sight delighted the predator in Hannibal.

The woman went still and Hannibal saw, once Will removed his hand from her neck, that a chunk of flesh had been bitten off.

Will, bathed in her blood, kicked the door open and charged inside. Hannibal followed just behind. He was curious what Will would do, since he hadn’t been granted a gun since he was a consultant and not a field agent.

The ghoul had shed all human pretenses. He held in his arms a girl who looked just like Elise Nichols, only somehow prettier to Hannibal in her desperation to get away. She struggled and cried as her father roared. Garrett Jacob Hobbs opened his dagger-filled mouth and went to rip into the girl’s neck, and Will leapt into action. Hannibal watched in amazement as the empath flung himself at the ghoul, using his full body weight to knock him off balance. The ghoul managed to bite his daughter, but missed narrowly missed her arteries. He laughed around the chunk of flesh, blood burbling around his lips.

Will bit into the ghoul’s neck with his dull teeth in desperation and caused him to release the girl as he howled in pain. Will was relentless and ripped out a chunk of the dark flesh and spat it on the ground. He staggered back.

The ghoul came at him, his long clawed hands reaching for Will. “See?” he asked as black blood spurted out of his neck. Then he fell to the ground, dead.

In a daze, Will fell to his knees, soaked in a mixture of red and black lifeblood. He cupped the girl’s bleeding neck as he had her mother’s. His hand shook and the girl gasped out shaking breaths, blood splurting out of her open wound. Hannibal calmly knelt next to Will and moved his hand away, replacing it with his own firm grip. She would live, provided an ambulance arrive soon.

Hannibal couldn’t help but cast another look at the majestic creature by his side. Black blood was all over his face, on his teeth, his chest. Hannibal felt a stirring in his chest and he knew he had to have him.

-

“What’s this?” asked an agitated Will when Hannibal pushed a paper towards him.

"A signed form saying you are fit for the field. That’s why you came, isn’t it?”

“I came because Jack thinks I might break. What makes you so certain I won’t?”

Hannibal smiled. “How did it feel when you killed Garrett Jacob Hobbs, Will? Did you feel powerful?” Will shifted uncomfortably, but did not respond. Hannibal saw something stirring in his eyes. “I often wonder if that’s what God feels when He kills his creations. If you’d like to talk, we can certainly do that, but you are not my patient, Will. You and I, we stand on equal ground.”

“We shared that experience,” Will said softly. “I feel… responsible for Abigail Hobbs. Do you?”

“I feel an immense amount of responsibility for her. She lost both her parents and I feel she only has us now. I want to protect her, to enable her growth.”

Will nodded. “Jack thinks she helped.”

“She has red blood,” Hannibal stated with a raised brow.

“Humans can be monsters too, Hannibal. Humans have caused more deaths than ghouls have.”

“And you, do you consider yourself a monster, Will? Now that you have killed?”

Will shook his head. “I don’t know. Killing Hobbs… felt _right_. I wanted to see him go limp, to know that I had been the cause of his death.”

Hannibal felt a stirring in his chest and gazed at Will with deep admiration. Will caught his gaze and looked away.

“Still want to submit that letter to Jack?” he asked.

“Will, I do not worry about you breaking. I think society has told you that you are broken already because it could not understand the gift you possess. You are unlike any being I have encountered, ghoul or human, but I can tell you this, you are not broken. You are stronger than most.” Hannibal ran a hand over his face to keep his human visage in place. His true form was bubbling beneath surface of the tight plastic skin. “I am going to visit Abigail in the hospital, would you like to join me?”

-

Will came to Hannibal’s forest again that night. Hannibal walked out to greet him, black horns standing proud, no longer concealed. His yellow eyes gleamed in the dark of the night and he reached a hand out to Will. Unlike the first time, Will seemed to see him now. He stared at the proffered hand in contemplation before reaching his own out as well.

When Hannibal touched the pale skin, he felt something thrum beneath.

-

Franklyn had been following Hannibal for weeks. Hannibal could smell his sweaty palms on the doorknob of the opera house before he even entered. What was more surprising than the scent of his recent stalker was the scent of decaying flesh that lingered alongside it.

“Dr. Lecter!” Franklyn called out to Hannibal after the performance. Hannibal breathed in deeply to keep his stoic mask in place and to force down the impulse to kill the pesky human right then and there. The majority of spectators at this performance were elite ghouls. They came together at cultural events or at dinner parties to avoid the suspicions of the humans around them. Still. There were enough humans present that a death, even of someone begging to be killed, would not be wise. “This is my friend, Tobias. Tobias, this is Dr. Lecter, my psychiatrist.”

Oh? Hannibal met the dark eyes that gazed back at him. He inhaled and tasted decaying flesh on the ghoul standing beside his patient. He had not met this ghoul before. “Franklyn, so nice to see you,” Hannibal lied, ignoring the ghoul completely. “I’m glad you are out enjoying yourself with a friend.”

“Oh yes, I thought you might be here.”

“Did you?”

“Yes. I don’t know if you saw me during the performance, I was sitting a few rows behind you.”

“I did, but due to doctor-patient confidentiality, I cannot greet you unless you make it known that you are alright with me doing so.” Hannibal smiled at his patient’s confused face, and then at the ghoul beside him. “Now, you must excuse me. I have to greet an old friend.”

-

It was only a few days later that Hannibal smelled that same scent. This time emanating from his office. He rolled his muscles, stretching out underneath his skin suit in preparation for a confrontation with this new ghoul, and then calmly entered his office.

“Dr. Lecter, oh my God, Dr. Lecter, I’m so sorry,” Franklyn sobbed out the moment Hannibal entered his office. Standing behind the distressed human was Tobias, in full form. His eyes were a dark orange and he towered over the human before him. “I thought something was up with Tobias, but I didn’t know- I couldn’t have known-!”

Hannibal stepped forward slowly, took Franklyn’s head in his hands, and snapped his neck.

“I’ve been wanting to do that!” Tobias roared.

“As have I,” Hannibal replied, letting his patient’s body fall to the floor.

“The only good thing Franklyn brought me was mentions of you. You and me, we are the same. We blend in with this world, but we are not like the rest. We are not cattle, but wolves. We are powerful and we pick off the humans without them even seeing us coming.”

“Are you propositioning me?” Hannibal asked, getting straight to the point.

“Join me! Together we can rule these lands, we can make human society crumble and take our rightful spot on top.” Tobias offered a long claw out to Hannibal. The latter eyed it distastefully.

“I’m afraid my answer is going to be, no.”

“Why? Do you like existing in the shadows?” Tobias glared at the ghoul standing before him, still perfectly contained within his human suit. “Or is it that you enjoy running around with that investigator? That _Will Graham_.”

Tobias lunged at Hannibal. Hannibal, unwilling to leave his own skin on his office floor alongside his dead patient, dodged the attack. Tobias scratched his arm as he flung him to the side of the room and fled the office.

Anger swirled in Hannibal’s chest. Black blood spilled from his wound onto his carpeted floors. He wrapped the wound quickly before grabbing the phone and dialing Jack.

“There’s been an attack. My patient is dead, but Jack, Will is in trouble.”

-

Will had been losing time. He would close his eyes in one place and open them elsewhere. He had a harder and harder time telling his dreams from his waking moments. Conversations he thought he had had with Alanna, with Hannibal, with Jack, turned out to be dreams. Cases he thought he had dreamt turned out to have been real.

That is why he didn’t panic when he saw a tall black figure standing outside his house. He stared at it, wondering why it looked so familiar. A ghoul? He kept seeing them. In the woods. A ghoul with black antlers and yellow eyes. But this ghoul’s eyes were glowing orange and his antlers were curled like a ram’s not standing proud like a stag’s.

When the dogs began to growl, Will knew he wasn’t dreaming. The creature began moving quickly towards his porch and Will felt his head jump to his throat. He raced into his kitchen and grabbed a knife. Fearing for his dogs, Will ran out the back door, hoping the creature would come around for him and leave his dogs alone. Ghouls were intelligent. It wouldn’t want his dogs, but it would attack them if they got in its way.

He stood in the darkness, panting, knife clutched tightly in his hand. Orange eyes were his only warning before the creature was on top of him. Will was crushed beneath the ghoul’s weight. He struggled to move his arm as the creature cackled. “So weak,” it said in a deep voice, “I don’t know what he sees in you.” Jealously radiated off the ghoul. Will was so taken about by the force of the envy that he froze, and then teeth were descending on his shoulder. Adrenaline rushed through his veins and he forced the knife upward with all his might. The creature garbled, but only bit down harder. Pain flashed, making Will’s vision go black then white then red. He screamed and pushed up with the knife.

 _Bang. Bang. Bang_.

Three gunshots went off and the creature slumped down on top of him. The world was spinning out of focus, but Will thought he saw Jack lean over him, his lips moving, saying something.

-

“Oh, I think he’s waking up.”

Will opened his eyes and saw Abigail looking intently at him. Standing behind her was Hannibal.

“How are you feeling, Will?” the doctor asked.

“Like someone took a bite out of me.”

“An accurate assessment. Had Jack not gotten to you when he did, you would not have survived,” Hannibal stated. “You did well with the knife, but it was not enough to take out the ghoul.”

Will tried to move to look at his shoulder, but the pain stopped him. “You said Jack saved me?”

Abigail nodded. “He shot the ghoul.”

“I brought you some food for when you’re feeling well enough to eat. It’s important you eat well so you can heal.” Hannibal motioned to a thermos and Tupperware on Will’s nightstand.

Will nodded. “Thank you.” He frowned. “Do you know why that ghoul attacked me?”

“He attacked my patient first. He was the one behind the violin death. We’re not sure why he went after you. He said your name before he flung me out of his way and left my office.”

“My name?” Will thought for a moment. “He was angry. He was… _envious_ of me. He said something… He said he didn’t know what _he_ saw in me. Your patient?”

Hannibal shook his head. “I don’t know. Franklyn did not talk to me about you.”

Will saw a flash of yellow eyes in his mind. He frowned deeper, but nodded and asked for time to rest.

-

After being released from the hospital, Will could not shake the image of those yellow eyes from his mind. He didn’t understand why he kept seeing _yellow_ eyes. Tobias’ eyes had definitely been orange. Yet, his words echoed in Will’s mind. _I don’t know what he sees in you_. If this had been a case, Will would be certain that there was a connection between the _him_ and the yellow eyes. But as it was, Will was beginning to doubt himself more and more.

His neck burned at night even after the bitemark had healed. When he was physically cleared to return to the field, he expressed his concerns to Jack, but Jack dismissed them. He needed Will to catch the killers. And a confused Will was better than no Will.

-

“How have you been feeling?” Hannibal asked.

“I feel like I’m fading.” Will didn’t mean to say the words, but once he started speaking, he couldn’t stop. “I don’t know who I am anymore. I feel like I’m gradually becoming different.”

“Put your head back. Close your eyes. What do you see?”

Will closed his eyes. “Darkness. I’m alone in that darkness.”

“You’re not alone. I’m standing right beside you.”

Yellow eyes gleamed in the darkness next to Will. “I-.”

“Shh. I can make it all go away. Wade into the quiet of the stream.”

-

When Will opened his eyes again, he was in a bed. He couldn’t tell if he had dreamed the session with Hannibal or if he had lost time. “My name is Will Graham,” he whispered to himself, “I’m in a hotel.” He couldn’t remember where. Or why. “It’s…” he glanced at his clock, but the numbers swirled and swam off the nightstand. “It’s nighttime.”

His phone began to ring. The world spun as Will reached for it. He felt like he was drowning in the bed. Drowning in the water coming from the clock.

“H-Hello?” he asked, holding the phone to his ear.

“Will, have you heard from Abigail?” Jack asked on the other side of the line.

“Not recently. Why? Is she okay?”

Silence.

“Jack?”

“She went missing from the hospital yesterday morning.” The water was rising. “Will? Will, are you there?”

He couldn’t breathe.

-

Will opened his eyes and he was on a plane. He glanced around, confused. “Sir, you’ve arrived and have to disembark now.”

“Where… Where am I?”

“Virginia,” the flight attendant told him softly.

It was then that Will remembered. He _had_ taken Abigail out of the hospital. They had gone to Minnesota. He accused her of luring the girls into her father’s trap. And Hannibal. Hannibal knew she had.

“Thank you,” he said to the woman. He collected his things and exited the plane on shaky legs.

-

Will stopped in front of his house. He felt the pendulum swing. As if his own house were a crime scene. He took a step back. Yellow eyes. He took a step forward. The pendulum swung again and he saw the creature from his dreams enter his home. Saw the dogs greet it like a familiar friend. He saw Abigail.

Will pushed the door open. The dogs whined softly and wagged as they greeted him. In the center of the room, Abigail was laid out on the floor. The ghoul from his dreams knelt over her unmoving form. His yellow eyes flickered to Will.

“I can see you now,” Will said, his voice trembling.

Hannibal, for that is who the ghoul was, turned his head to the side.

Will collapsed on his knees beside Abigail. He felt her pale wrist for a pulse. “Did you do this?” he asked when he found none. _Or did I?_

“We did,” Hannibal replied.

“We were supposed to protect her.”

“She came to me,” Hannibal said. “After you took her.”

“So you killed her?”

“It was the only way.” Hannibal reached out a black hand to Will. Will stared at the hand and saw it reach out for him in the forest, in Dr. Lecter’s office, in Dr. Lecter’s home, in Minnesota. He flinched backwards.

“It’s been you. This whole time. It’s been you. You’re the Chesapeake Ripper.” The scales fell from his eyes and Will knew he was right as he said the words.

“Will.” The hand was still outreached.

Will moved backwards. “No.” He shook his head. “No.” When he tried to get to his feet, he felt the claws dig into his stomach. He sputtered and collapsed. Blood pooled from his insides, wetting the floor. He could hear his dogs barking, could feel the coolness the damp wooden floor. He closed his eyes.

-

Will did not expect to wake again. “Is this real?” were the first words out of his mouth.

Jack did not look amused. “Do I look fake to you?”

Will squinted at him, which was apparently not the correct response.

“Yes! Yes, this is real.”

Will’s head throbbed. “Where’s Hannibal?”

“Gone. Abigail too.”

“Abigail?” Will asked. “I thought he killed her.”

Jack narrowed his eyes at Will. “Are you telling me you didn’t know she helped her father?”

“What?”

“When you took her to Minnesota, and don’t lie to me, cause I know it was you, did you or did you not know that she helped feed those girls to her ghoul father?”

“I didn’t know, not until after we got there. But Jack, what does this have to do with-”

“Hannibal took her.”

“She was dead. I saw her.”

“She’s a ghoul, Will.”

Will shook his head. “No, she’s human. Red blood.”

“Not anymore, now she’s a ghoul. We’ve often suspected they had ways of spreading. Maybe she was a ghoul the whole time and was just hiding it. Maybe being the daughter of a ghoul awoke that in her. Hell if I know, all that matters is that she is one and that she’s gone.”

“ _It was the only way_ ,” Will whispered Hannibal’s words. He had misunderstood.

“What was that?” Jack asked.

Will shook his head. “How long have I been out? How long have they been gone?”

“You’ve been out for two days. We think they left around the same time the paramedics arrived at your place. They’re out of our jurisdiction now. The bastards fled to Europe on a private jet.”

“I have to go.” Will struggled to remove the hospital monitors.

“No, Will, stop. What you need to do is answer my questions and then get some rest.”

Will’s stomach sparked in pain and he collapsed back to the bed in a sweat. Hannibal hadn’t killed Abigail. He had turned her into a ghoul. Will knew it with certainty. He offered his hand and Will refused it.

Will answered Jack’s questions without really hearing them, his mind elsewhere.

-

It took six months before Will was in the clear health-wise and with the BAU. Six months until he was able to take himself to the airport and catch the first flight to Europe. It took another seven months before he came upon his first trace of them. Without his ability, it would have been impossible. Even with it, Will felt Hannibal must have wanted Will to find him.

He found the heart in the cathedral and felt his own ache. Jack caught up with Will there. Will thought he would, eventually.

“What is it?” Jack asked.

“He left me his broken heart,” Will replied softly.

“Will, I want to catch these bastards just as much as you do, but the Vatican is on high alert. If anything happens, they will take care of it. You need to go home. Alanna said your dogs miss you.”

Will shook his head. Jack misunderstood his intentions. He wasn’t going home. “I need to find them.”

“Doing so will be the death of you. It’s a miracle you survived last time.” But Jack left him after that.

-

It was another four months before Will found them. Or rather, until he walked into Hannibal’s trap.

In the Catacombs of Paris Will knelt beside a pile of skeletons, skeletons that were much fresher than the rest. It was then that he heard the crunch of bones under food. He didn’t have to look up to know it was him.

“I let you see me, I let you know me.”

“I’m sorry,” Will whispered. “I saw, but I didn’t understand.”

“A place was made for all of us, together. I wanted to surprise you. I gave you a rare gift, but you didn’t want it.”

“Didn’t I?” Will raised his eyes to Hannibal now. He looked just as he had when Will last saw him. His yellow eyes glowed brightly against his black skin. “I wanted to understand you, before I laid eyes on you again. I needed it to be clear, what it was I was seeing.”

“Is it clear, now?”

“Yes,” Will said with resignation. He lifted a knife. Hannibal tilted his head in confusion. “I know who I am.” He turned the knife on himself and stabbed it into his chest.

Hannibal’s eyes widened in shock and he caught Will in his arms before he could fall to the ground.

“You g-gave me your broken heart. Now, I-I give you mine…”

Will stared into those emotion-filled yellow eyes as the world turned to darkness.

-

When Will opened his eyes again, he knew something had changed. He felt his chest. The knife was gone, and in its place was a series of scars in the shape of claw marks. He was in a bed. Hannibal and Abigail stood at the foot of the bed, each with ebony skin, yellow eyes, and antlers. They reached out to him with their long, clawed hands. Will reached out his own hand, surprised to see it matched theirs. When their hands touched, Will felt like he was home.

“This is all I ever wanted for you, Will,” Hannibal whispered.

“It’s beautiful.” 


End file.
